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Old 09-10-2012, 04:56 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
872 posts, read 2,023,811 times
Reputation: 592

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Hi all,

I am moving to Seattle in July (took a job at Boeing) and I am currently searching for apartments in the Seattle (mostly Bellevue) area. One thing that seems to be a factor is the 520 floating bridge that is currently a toll bridge. I spent my summer in Tri-Cities/Seattle and avoiding that bridge was a huge hassle.

My Question is, what is the plan for the 520 bridge? Is it always going to be a toll bridge for the foreseeable future, or are they building a new one? What is going on with it? I wish they had three bridges coming from Bellevue/Redmond into Seattle. Traffic is awful on the current non-toll bridge most of the time it seems.

****EDIT

Could you guys also update me on the news about the new amtrak or equivalent that is suppose to be built from Bellevue to downtown Seattle and northgate to downtown. I heard a completion date of 2016ish when I was in town, is everything still going according to plan? Hopefully that will help ease congestion on I-5/520/I-90.

Last edited by RunTheDistance476; 09-10-2012 at 05:09 PM..
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Old 09-10-2012, 05:45 PM
 
Location: West Coast - Best Coast!
1,979 posts, read 3,513,171 times
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520 bridge is going to be replaced. There are barges and cranes all around it in Lake Washington currently. The tolls are paying for a good share of the replacement cost, which is substantial. So yes, that bridge will be tolled into the foreseeable future.

The train you're talking about is light rail - not Amtrak - and it is well underway. The central link is in operation between Seattle downtown and the airport, and the North Link portion is currently under construction. The University station (at UW) is scheduled to open in 2016 - not sure about Northgate. North Link will also be extended up to Lynnwood, with that portion scheduled to open in 2023, the same year East Link to Mercer Island-Bellevue-Redmond will open. Here is a link to the Sound Transit Light Rail site: http://projects.soundtransit.org/
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Old 09-10-2012, 07:41 PM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,226 posts, read 80,405,058 times
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The tolls are not enough to pay for the cost of the new bridge, so there are planned increases. Many people have chosen to drive down to I90 which is still free, so 520 traffic is much lighter now, I90 heavier. There has been discussion of tolling I90 as well if needed to pay for the new bridge and get people back onto it. The year 2016 is also the target for the new tunnel to replace the waterfront I99 viaduct. Between now and then Seattle downtown/waterfront traffic will get much worse than it is now.
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Old 09-10-2012, 08:13 PM
 
Location: Seattle
1,651 posts, read 2,769,886 times
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Avoiding it can't possibly be the hassle that taking it was when it wasn't tolled.

They should be building the new pontoons for the bridge this year. They'll float them into Lake WA and then knock out the existing span and move them into place for the new span. I believe that happens sometime next year, but before that they need to made modifications to the roads at either end to accomodate the widened span.

Yep, it's tolled. It's going to be tolled til the new one is paid for, and I could be wrong, but I believe there are provisions to continue tolling to pay for maintenance. That might be awhile. Quite frankly I'm one of those that happily pays the toll. Especially since I can now drive on the dang thing instead of just sit in my car on it for hours. I use it heavily, most people don't. Therefore I don't have a problem shouldering some of the finanaces. Building the longest floating bridge in the world ain't cheap.

Light rail seems to be proceeding on schedule. I'm eagerly awaiting the opportunity to take it to places other than the airport (although that's really handy).
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Old 09-10-2012, 09:24 PM
 
1,018 posts, read 3,370,456 times
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if they toll I-90 too tons of people are going to cry foul.
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Old 09-11-2012, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
872 posts, read 2,023,811 times
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That's great to hear in regards to the new bridge and links. Seattle at 90 and 5 obviously needs some help with congestion and maybe the new 520 will aid in the 5/90 intersection traffic. That is one of the only things about Seattle that isn't fun, traffic. Of course, every major American city is a pain to drive in much of the time. Looking forward to the improvements and looking forward to that new arena. I love basketball and I am so happy my new city will have a team of its own again. I am looking into buying Seahawks tickets for next season for my fiancée and myself. Coming straight out of college, I have no idea what the process is for buying NFL season tickets. Are they super expensive for decent seats? (super expensive meaning more than 1500) Is it hard to get Seahawks season tickets?
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Old 09-11-2012, 11:39 AM
 
195 posts, read 376,825 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by civic94 View Post
if they toll I-90 too tons of people are going to cry foul.
...They should have just increased property or car taxes honestly. We all use or benefit from having the bridge there, so why not everyone pay a little toward it ? I guess the "Politics of a tax increase" was maybe what prevented that, so now they have to go to all the hassles of building tolling booths, license scanners etc. etc. ... seems silly
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Old 09-11-2012, 12:01 PM
 
Location: Bellevue, WA
1,497 posts, read 4,444,326 times
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"if they toll I-90 too tons of people are going to cry foul."

Why should people have to pay to use one bridge, but not another? Seriously, that makes no sense, and is making traffic worse. I've never lived anywhere where ANY bridge is free. IMO they should toll both in one direction only like almost every other city does.
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Old 09-11-2012, 05:17 PM
 
1,314 posts, read 2,047,533 times
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I was using the traffic filter on Google maps a few minutes ago and the 520 is the only thing that's green. I'll gladly pay whatever they ask to be on that particular stretch of highway at rush hour.
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Old 09-11-2012, 05:55 PM
 
Location: Bellevue, WA
1,497 posts, read 4,444,326 times
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I get that, but it is still nonsensical. Did they add a toll to reduce traffic? They just caused more as more people drive further to avoid it. And, carpooling doesn't reduce your fare. To raise money? If so, why don't people driving after a certain hour have to pay it? Toll roads distribute money throughout the system...if you pay a toll at one spot it doesn't just fix that stretch of the road. Doesn't the 90 cost a lot to maintain, too?

But bridge tolls quickly becomes polittician slush funds. Almost all of the ones near us are between $8-12, and yet the MTA is always broke.
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